NEW ZEALAND

Rip It Up, Issue 208, 1 December 1994, Page 37

NEW ZEALAND

■ GREG JOHNSON Come On 9 CD Single (Pagan) On his first solo outing, Greg Johnson has come up with the mellow, folkie sounding ‘Come On’. In this instance, ‘folk’ is not a four-letter word. It rides on a soaring sing-along chorus, clear evidence Johnson hasn’t lost his pop touch, while lyrically it comes from the point of view of a girl attempting to save a relationship. That’s odd, but this deserves to be an early-summer hit nonetheless. Side B features Johnson with ex-Warratah Barry Saunders on ‘Those Aren’t Real Tears’, and the moody piano/vocal ballad ‘Sink Like Me.’: . ’ . lEMMA PAKI Greenstone CD Single (Virgin) The eagerly awaited follow-up to ‘System Virtue’ sees Emma Paki shift a little to the left of the ‘pop song’ territory, and it’s a confusing move. ‘Greenstone’ shuffles along at mid-tempo, held back by a plodding, almost pipe band-style drum beat, that’s a long way from the primal feel that was most likely wanted. Paki repeats the chorus between several intervals, before the song is punctuated by a sharp Neil Finn guitar solo. A strange arrangement indeed. Also here are two acoustic numbers, the delicate ‘Free’ and the soulful ‘Yair’. I THREE THE HARD WAY All Around CD Single (Deepgrooves) ‘All Around’ is a pumping, bass heavy shout out to Three The Hard Way fans at all points of the compass. The feel is pure Parliament. Snoop and Dre would love this. There are four mixes here, and the Funkafied version sounds the finest. I JULES ISSA Discomfort In Their Eyes ' CD Single (Deepgrooves) : Far from being the feel-good reggae, that Jules Issa performs live, ‘Discomfort In Their Eyes’ is a dark piece of work, which would appear the point, considering the anti-war stance taken in the lyrics.' It has a sparse, almost apocalyptic air about it, that makes for not unpleasant, but definitely uneasy listening. H GRACE Black Sand Shore ■ CD Single (Deepgrooves) The title track from Grace’s forthcoming album creates vivid pictures. Moving from cruisy verses that travel at a snail's pace, to an epic, evocative chorus, you can almost envisage seagulls soaring and waves crashing — you know, nature and stuff. Very few young local acts can do it, but Grace have the ability to keep the BPMs way down, without losing sight of the song. It must be the month for sorrow-filled piano/vocal ballads, as track two, ‘Distant Sun’, fits that description perfectly. H MATTY J Somewhere You're There I CD Single (EMI) ; ‘Somewhere You’re There’ features a rap performed by the Madd Coconut (aka Sonny, ex-Pacifican

Descendants), and this makes it bearable. ‘Somewhere You’re There’ (four mixes) sees Matty take another stab at a swing beat ballad, where he gets a little Stevie Wonder-ish in places. But for sure, he doesn’t have the strength of voice to carry this style of song. And if you don’t have that, what else is there? lASHVINS/FOISEMASTER/MEAT MARKET Hard Of Hearing No. 2 Cassette (Spotty Dog) The follow-up to the impressive Palmerston North compilation HOH No.l fails to please as much as its predecessor. Three bands appear, each with four tracks, and only three-piece group the Ashvins make you punch the air and say “rock ’n’ roll”. They’re a no-nonsense, bot-tom-end punk band, seemingly devoid of any discernible melody, who utilise a vocalist with a voice Glen (SPUD) Campbell would kill for. Their tracks ‘Mary Had Nothing To Give’ and ‘Pisces House’ are tops. Meat Market don’t do anything the fast forward button can’t fix. The mono-tonal, spoken word, thing over a droning bass riff and Fatal Jelly Space-style drumming is grating and uninspired to the extreme. Foisemaster’s line in structured guitar noise for noise sake peaks with the sonic splendour of To The Crusher’ and ‘Dad’s Birthday’, but disappoints when they lose their sense of urgency. Overall, HOH #2 is a blast until the tempo drops, while the Ashvins prove a rare treat. I CRASH Red Velvet Cassette (Safe) Red Velvet includes the bFM hit ‘Cliff/Day At The Fair’, a haunting epic that sweeps from dark pop to thrashy pop on a swirling undercurrent of psychedelic guitars. And that’s the best of it. The remaining two tracks have a definite Primitives element to them, ie. very English, very 80s and very dull.

I MANTIS Psychodellic Cassette' Dunedin’s Mantis grapple well with the often abused metal/punk combination, sounding like a cross between HLAH and Suicidal Tendencies. Psychodellic boasts a low-fi charm that enhances their dense and foreboding sound, particularly on ‘Deaf/Dumb’which features some wicked double kick-drum work. A good discovery.:

JOHN RUSSELL